Bernie Sanders
Updated 2024-08=24
2024-08-15 “Incomprehensible”: U.S. Approves $20 Billion in New Arms for Israel as Gaza Death Toll Tops 40,000 Health officials in Gaza said Thursday that the official death toll from Israel’s 10-month war has topped 40,000, though that is believed to be a vast undercount of the true figure. The grim milestone was reached just days after the Biden administration greenlit $20 billion in additional weapons sales to Israel, including 50 F-15 fighter jets, tank ammunition, mortar rounds, tactical vehicles and advanced air-to-air missiles. The U.S. approved the sales despite growing calls for an arms embargo on Israel. “This is just a continuation of a policy that has been going on now for 10 months of the U.S. providing to Israel all the arms that it requests,” says Josh Paul, a veteran State Department official who worked on arms deals and resigned in protest over Gaza policy in October. “It is a dark day for American foreign policy.” We also speak with Jan Egeland, the secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, who says it’s “incomprehensible” that the U.S. keeps supplying Israel with weapons. “There should be no more arms going into that place before there is a ceasefire.” Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCtywovwpx8
2024-06-13 Amid Cease-Fire Talk, Israel’s Siege Still Causing Child Starvation in Gaza “Blocking humanitarian aid and creating the conditions for famine is not only an act of extreme cruelty—using starvation as an act of war,” U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders said. “It is a war crime.”
The United Nations relief agency for Palestinians said Thursday that Israeli authorities continue to hinder aid efforts by failing to approve requests for delivery and permits, as two other U.N. agencies separately issued dire warnings about large-scale starvation in Gaza this week.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said Israel has frequently denied the agency’s aid-related requests, The Guardian reported. The World Health Organization said Thursday that there have been 32 cases of deaths from malnutrition in Gaza—mostly of children below five years old—since October 7 and warned of the “catastrophic hunger and famine-like conditions” faced by a significant proportion of Gazans.
The WHO statement followed a U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warning that humanitarian access in southern Gaza had “declined dramatically” and that 3,000 malnourished children there are “at risk of death,” having been cut off from life-saving care due to the Israeli military offensive in Rafah. Many international agencies and humanitarian groups have gone further in their condemnation of Israeli’s aid policy, arguing that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is using starvation as a weapon of war https://www.commondreams.org/news/israel-blocks-aid-gaza
2024-05-06 Sanders Says US Must ‘End All Offensive Military Aid’ as Israel Targets Rafah As Israel rejected a cease-fire deal that Hamas had accepted Monday, dashing the hopes of civilianstrapped in the southern Gaza city of Rafah that an invasion could be averted, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders called on the Biden administration to stop the looming attack that humanitarian and rights organizations have been warning against for months.
The Vermont independent senator said President Joe Biden must follow through on his call for Israel to protect civilian lives by forgoing a ground invasion of Rafah. In March Biden said the attack would be a “red line” unless Israel developed a credible plan to evacuate civilians, who include an estimated 600,000 children in the city.
To stop Israel from killing potentially hundreds of thousands of people in the city, where 1.4 million people are sheltering following Israel’s obliteration of cities across Gaza, the U.S. must “end all offensive military aid” to the country, Sanders said Monday. https://www.commondreams.org/news/bernie-sanders-2668176062
2024-03-11 Support for Gaza War Must End, Says Sanders, But Biden-Trump Choice Is ‘Day and Night’ Sen. Bernie Sanders said Sunday that the contrast between President Joe Biden and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump could not be more stark even as the Vermont senator offered a sharp criticism of the incumbent’s support for Israel’s devastating war on Gaza, which is now in its sixth month with no end in sight.
Asked about the backing that “uncommitted” campaigns have gained across multiple states—a sign of the broad unpopularity of Biden’s approach to the war—Sanders told “Face the Nation” that “the fight continues to change Biden’s policy in Gaza,” where children are dying of starvation as the U.S.-armed Israeli military attacks and impedes aid deliveries.
“But the contrast between Biden and Trump is day and night,” the Independent senator added, pointing to differences between the two candidates on climate, abortion rights, voting rights, and other issues. “The election of Trump would be a disaster for this country and, in my view, the world. We’ve got to come together, reelect Biden. But, at the same time, we have to demand that we have a progressive agenda, where we have an economy that works for all, not just a few.” https://www.commondreams.org/news/sanders-gaza-trump
2024-02-05 As Senators Unveil Aid Bill, Sanders Says Stop Fueling the ‘Netanyahu War Machine’ Sen. Bernie Sanders said Sunday that the U.S. must stop fueling the Netanyahu government’s assault on the Gaza Strip as senators unveiled legislation that would provide more than $14 billion in aid to Israel, which has waged its monthslong war on the Palestinian territory with massive American-made bombs, artillery shells, and other destructive munitions.
“This is not JUST about 27,000 Palestinians killed and 67,000 wounded—two-thirds of whom are women and children,” Sanders (I-Vt.) said in a statement. “This is not JUST about 70% of the housing units in Gaza being destroyed or damaged. This is not JUST about 1.7 million people driven from their homes. This is not JUST about hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children starving to death. “
“This is also about our credibility in the international community and what this country stands for,” the senator continued. “If we continue to fund [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s indiscriminate war, how can we, with a straight face, criticize [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine as a war crime? How can we criticize China, Saudi Arabia, and other countries for their many violations of human rights? Who in the world will not see through the hypocrisy?” https://www.commondreams.org/news/sanders-netanyahu-israel
2024-01-14 Bernie Sanders urges Biden to revoke unconstrained financial support for Israel: ‘Killing children is not the solution’ “The president has got to change course. He has been very clear. He has expressed his concern about ‘indiscriminate bombing.’ He has asked Netanyahu over and over again to change course,” Sanders told CNN on Sunday. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not changed course. On the 100th day of fighting in Gaza, Netanyahu defiantly issued a statement saying, “Nobody will stop us — not The Hague, not the axis of evil, and not anybody else.” On CNN, Sanders called it “unacceptable.” https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/bernie-sanders-urges-biden-to-revoke-unconstrained-financial-support-for-israel-killing-children-is-not-the-solution/ar-AA1mXjGV
2024-01-14 Bernie Sanders predicts how Biden backing Israel will affect young voters Sen. Bernie Sanders said Sunday that it was very hard for young people and Americans in general to be “excited about what is going on right now” when pressed on President Biden’s support for Israel. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/bernie-sanders-predicts-how-biden-backing-israel-will-affect-young-voters/vi-AA1mX5rF
2024-01-14 Sanders says Gaza ‘is worse than’ what happened in Dresden during WWII “If I use the word Dresden Germany to you, you think about the horrific destruction during World War II of that city. What is going on in Gaza now in three months, is worse than what took place in Dresden over a two year period. This is a catastrophe,” Sanders said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Sanders was referring to the 1945 bombings of Dresden led by U.S. and British forces at the time that left about 25,000 people dead. The Vermont senator has been very outspoken about the situation in Gaza, reiterating Sunday that Israel does not have a right to kill civilians in its war against militant group Hamas.
“So my view has been from the beginning Israel has a right to respond to this horrific terrorist attack from come up. But you do not have a right to go to war against an entire people, women and children and the United States Congress has got to act because a lot of this destruction is being done with military weapons supplied by the United States of America,” Sanders said.
Sanders plans to bring a resolution to the Senate floor this week underneath the Foreign Assistance Act, which would direct the State Department to look into potential human rights violations caused by Israel in Gaza. “It says that if an American military assistance is given to any country, Saudi Arabia, Israel, any other country, it has got to be used consistent with human rights, international human rights standards and American law,” Sanders said about the Foreign Assistance Act. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/sanders-says-gaza-is-worse-than-what-happened-in-dresden-during-wwii/ar-AA1mXavx
2023-12-13 Sanders Urges President Biden to Withdraw Support for $10.1 Billion in Military Aid to Israel and Support UN Efforts for a Humanitarian Ceasefire Sanders lays out the devastation in Gaza, now equivalent to that of Dresden after two years of bombing during World War II, and emphasizes it is being carried out with bombs produced and provided by the United States.
In a letter sent to President Biden on Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) urged the president to make two critical policy changes in his approach to Israel and Gaza. First, that the president withdraw his support for the $10.1 billion for offensive weaponry for Netanyahu’s right-wing government contained in the proposed supplemental foreign aid package requested from Congress. And second, for the president to support the recent UN resolution that demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, and full humanitarian access – a resolution which was vetoed by the United States. https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-urges-president-biden-to-withdraw-support-for-10-1-billion-in-military-aid-to-israel-and-support-un-efforts-for-a-humanitarian-ceasefire/
2023-12-05 Bernie Sanders Rejects $10B in Military Aid for “Extremist Netanyahu Government” The Vermont senator described Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip as unlawful and “immoral.” S. Sen. Bernie Sanders said Monday that he opposes sending billions of dollars in additional military assistance to the Israeli government as it continues to wage a catastrophic war on the Gaza Strip, an assault that the Vermont senator described as unlawful and “immoral.” “I do not believe we should be appropriating over $10 billion for the right-wing, extremist Netanyahu government to continue its current military approach,” Sanders, who has faced backlash from progressives and some of his former campaign staffers for refusing to support a permanent cease-fire, said in remarks on the Senate floor.
Sanders’ speech came as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) set the stage for a procedural vote on a $106 billion supplemental package that includes military assistance for Israel and Ukraine. The vote is expected to fail as Republicans push for the inclusion of asylum restrictions that progressive Democrats have condemned as draconian.https://truthout.org/articles/bernie-sanders-rejects-10b-in-military-aid-for-extremist-netanyahu-government/
2023-11-30 I am LIVE on the floor of the U.S. Senate Bernie Sanders to discuss the situation in Gaza. [MEK Note: Bernie it was a great speech, but if you then again endorse “Genocide “Joe without the implementation of your significant demands made, you will be just a Democrat hypocrite. As for me, Bernie please get October 7th facts straight! According to Israel media, interviews and facts, of the 1400 civilians killed (original story), 200 were Hamas fighters and 400 were IDF +Police +Settler security. Finally, the IDF apparently might have killed more than half of the remaining 800 using Apache helicopter gunships at the music festival and tanks firing at homes in many of the high casualty Kibbutzs. Hamas ran a military operation, which Mossad had to have known in advance, Israel earlier pulled a lot of its security from the area to protect a West Bank settler invasion of a Palestinian area! Meanwhile, the IDF was directly involved in the blood bath clearly following its “secret” Hannibal Directive. Israel, White House & corporate Media continue to lie about it to create October 7 into a Hamas terrorist act rather than a resistance movement fighting back against 75 years of oppression, 50 years of occupation and 17 years of blockade and Apartheid as is its right according to UN Charter. International Law does not give Israel a right to defend itself as an occupying] oppressive nation to use acts of genocide against innocent civilian Palestinians! Israel does not want it and facts on the ground mean a two state solution is dead in the water.]
Well now finally the word ‘ceasefire’ has come from the Senator’s lips. Thrilled to hear Bernie addressing the violence + atrocities of the IDF + of the settler movement in the West Bank. now we’re getting somewhere! Calling for conditions on US funding of Israel’s war machine is definitely a #1 priority. Thank you Bernie and don’t stop speaking up for Gaza + Palestinian sovereignty + against hate crimes! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWVSdJJ4vr8
2023-11-27 Bernie Sanders discusses Vermont shooting, Israel-Hamas war The man accused of shooting three Palestinian students in Burlington, Vermont, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder Monday. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders joins “America Decides” to discuss the rise of antisemitism and Islamophobia amid the Israel-Hamas war, and the funding battle on Capitol Hill. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRsL_nyZobU
2023-11-10 Bernie Sanders Disappoints With Cease-Fire Refusal Given the makeup of the US Senate, one would assume that the senator who would go out on a limb and become the first, and still the only one, to call for a ceasefire would be progressive firebrand Bernie Sanders. But it wasn’t. Instead, it was Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois.
Durbin is known as a relatively liberal senator, but he’s never been a leader on the issue of Palestine. Sanders, on the other hand, has been the most outspoken member of the Senate on Palestine, although that is a pretty low bar. Still, in the past, he has been willing to speak out.
During his 2016 presidential run, Sanders offered some mild criticism of Israeli policies, but did so in Brooklyn, New York, defying fears that this would cause his Jewish supporters to bolt. But nothing of the kind happened. Sanders has also spoken about enforcing US law on arms sales to Israel, a subject so controversial in Washington that it is seen as politically toxic. He has repeatedly criticised Israel’s policies; but on Gaza, he has absolutely refused to call for a ceasefire.
When asked, Sanders supported the Israeli view that military action must continue until Hamas is destroyed. “I don’t know how you can have a ceasefire, a permanent ceasefire, with an organisation like Hamas, which is dedicated to turmoil and chaos and destroying the State of Israel,” Sanders told CNN. “I think what the Arab countries in the region understand is that Hamas has got to go.”
Ignoring demands. Two weeks ago, more than 300 former Sanders staffers and campaign workers published an open letter calling on him to support a ceasefire, an end to the blockade of Gaza and “US military funding for war crimes against the Palestinian people, the expansion of settlements, and the occupation of Palestinian lands.” https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/bernie-sanders-gaza-cease-fire
2023-11-05 Sanders Blasts AIPAC After Group Thanks Him for Not Demanding Cease-Fire in Gaza After the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on Sunday publicly thanked U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders for declining to join global calls for a cease-fire in Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, the Vermont Independent rebuffed the lobbying group.
The senator—under progressive pressure to change his position on Israel’s war—noted that AIPAC “has supported dozens of GOP extremists who are undermining our democracy” and is “now working hard to defeat progressive members of Congress.”
“AIPAC endorsed scores of January 6th insurrectionists. They are no friend to American democracy. They are one of the more racist and bigoted PACs in Congress as well, who disproportionately target members of color. They are an extremist organization that destabilizes U.S. democracy.” https://www.commondreams.org/news/aipac-bernie-sanders
2023-10-29 Bernie Sanders speaking on Palestine Situation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQJxNBOOGHw
2023-10-28 Tell Senator Bernie Sanders: Ceasefire Now -Petition As American Jews and allies, many of us have looked to Bernie Sanders for years as the political leader who best embodies our values.
Right now, many of us are also grieving Israeli and Palestinian loved ones who have been murdered in recent weeks. Over 1400 Israelis and over 5700 Palestinians are already dead, with more Palestinians killed by bombs that rain on Gaza by the hour, and over 200 Israeli hostages still held in Gaza. This genocidal violence cannot be allowed to escalate or continue.
Add your name to tell Senator Sanders: introduce a resolution in the Senate calling for a ceasefire now. Your principled, antiwar leadership in this moment could save thousands of lives. Together, we’ll show Sen. Sanders that there’s a growing movement that has his back. https://secure.everyaction.com/5P3tnNZN40WklfxlkU7PEA2?s=04&fbclid=IwAR1WIczVQ9_H0JJys7qf6E9GHWz9MVBGDWLyw26X1EcZXpYa13eXkePQ_Po
2023-10-25 More Than 300 Former Sanders Staffers Urge Him to Lead Cease-Fire Resolution in Senate “Your voice is needed now more than ever, because cooler heads must prevail and prevent further suffering and bloodshed.”
More than 300 former staffers from Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns released an open letter Tuesday urging the Vermont Independent to sponsor a cease-fire resolution in the U.S. Senate as Israel’s bombing campaign in the besieged Gaza Strip continues unabated.
Sanders said last week that “the bombs and missiles from both sides must end” and has accused Israel of violating international law with its blockade on Gaza, but he has yet to express support for the cease-fire resolution led by progressive Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) in the House.
The senator’s former campaign staffers want him to spearhead a similar cease-fire effort in the Senate, where the Democratic leadership has thus far been in lockstep with the Biden administration’s unwavering support for Israel’s attack on Gaza. https://www.commondreams.org/news/sanders-cease-fire-resolution
2023-10-17 Sanders Statement on Horrific Violence in Israel and Gaza WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement today on the horrific violence in Israel and Gaza: The slaughter of over a thousand Israelis by Hamas in a terrorist attack is an unspeakable crime. The bombing of a Palestinian hospital is an unspeakable crime, as is the displacement of a million people without water, food, and medicine. These unspeakable crimes must stop now. The bombs and missiles from both sides must end, massive humanitarian aid must be rushed to Gaza, and the hostages must be returned to their families. https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-statement-on-horrific-violence-in-israel-and-gaza/
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Categorized Directory: News and Articles about Israel- Palestine Conflict
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